TONIGHT’S GAMEThe Rangers will face-off against the New York Islanders in the 2014 Coors Light NHL Stadium Series at Yankee Stadium (7:30 p.m. — TV: NBCSN; Radio: ESPN 98.7). The Blueshirts rank second in the Metropolitan Division standings, and sixth in the Eastern Conference, with a record of 28-23-3 (59 pts). The Rangers enter the contest having defeated the New Jersey Devils, 7-3, on Sunday at Yankee Stadium. The Blueshirts have won 12 of their last 18 games (12-5-1) and seven of their last 10, and are tied for third in the conference in ROW (25). The Islanders enter the contest with a 21-26-8 (50 pts) record to rank 14th in the Eastern Conference, and have lost their last three games. Following the contest, the Rangers will return to action when they face-off against the New York Islanders on Friday, Jan. 31 (7:00 p.m.), in the second game of a home-and-home set.

RANGERS vs. ISLANDERS:All-Time: 120-101-19-7 overall (69-39-11-5 at home; 51-62-8-2 on the road)2013-14: Tonight is the fourth of five meetings this season, and the second and final road meeting. New York is 1-2-0 overall (0-2-0 at home; 1-0-0 on the road), following a 5-3 loss on Jan. 21 at Madison Square Garden. The Rangers power play is 5-15 (33.3%) in the series. Chris Kreider leads all skaters with five points, and is tied for the series lead in goals (two) and assists (three). Henrik Lundqvist is 0-1-0 with a 4.03 GAA, and Cam Talbot is 1-1-0 with a 3.04 GAA.Last Season: New York was 3-0-1 overall (1-0-1 at home; 2-0-0 on the road). Three of their four meetings were decided in extra time, including one that required the shootout. The Rangers out-scored the Islanders, 10-6, in the series, including a 4-1 advantage in the first period and a 4-1 advantage after the second. The Blueshirts’ power play was 3-13 (23.1%), while the penalty kill was 8-8 (100.0%). Carl Hagelin (one goal, two assists), Rick Nash (one goal, two assists), and Marc Staal (three assists) each tallied three points apiece. Henrik Lundqvist was 3-0-0 with a 0.65 GAA, .977 Sv%, and one shutout in three games.
The Rangers have registered at least one point in 18 of their last 23 games against the Islanders (15-5-3)
The Rangers are 16-10-0 on the road; the Islanders are 8-11-8 at home
The Rangers are 8-9-3 vs. Metropolitan Division opponents; the Islanders are 5-12-3 vs. Metropolitan Division opponents

SPECIAL TEAMS:
The Rangers have notched a power play goal in eight of the last 12 games (9-41, 22.0%) and 13 of the last 20 (17-71, 23.9%)Power Play: The Rangers were 0-3 (4:19) on Sunday at New Jersey. New York is tied for seventh in the NHL overall (37-182, 20.3%), and ranks third on the road (20-81, 24.7%). The Rangers are 5-16 (6:55) in five-on-three situations (last – 1/19 vs. WSH), and 0-6 (6:56) when four-on-three (last – 1/19 vs. WSH). Shorthanded goals allowed (5): 10/8 at SJS (Vlasic); 10/24 at PHI (Read); 11/19 vs. BOS (Paille); 12/20 vs. NYI (Clutterbuck, PS); 12/20 vs. NYI (Grabner).Penalty Killing: The Blueshirts were 1-2 (0:41) on Sunday at New Jersey. New York is tied for 11th in the NHL overall (132-159, 83.0%), and seventh on the road (66-79, 83.5%). The Rangers are 2-5 (3:54) in three-on-five situations (last – 1/19 vs. WSH), and 6-8 (6:06) when three-on-four (last – 1/21 vs. NYI). Shorthanded goals for (3): 10/7 at LAK (McDonagh); 12/27 at WSH (Hagelin); 1/19 vs. WSH (Callahan).Four-on-Four: New York did not tally/yield a goal in one four-on-four situation (1:41) on Sunday at New Jersey, and are now -3 in 60 four-on-four situations (95:07) this season. Four-on-four goals for (4): 10/16 at WSH (J. Moore); 10/26 at DET (Brassard); 12/12 vs. CBJ (Girardi); 12/18 vs. PIT (Hagelin). Four-on-four goals allowed (7): 10/3 at PHX (Vrbata); 10/7 at LAK (Muzzin); 10/12 at STL (Backes); 12/8 vs. WSH (Grabovski, PS); 12/18 vs. PIT (Sutter); 12/27 at WSH (Fehr); 1/6 vs. CBJ (Atkinson).

WINTER WONDERLAND
The following records were established for regular season outdoor games in the Rangers 7-3 win over the Devils on Sunday:
Most goals by a team (7)
Most goals in a period by a team (4 by NYR, 2nd Period)
Tied for most combined goals (10)
Most combined goals in a period (5, 1st Period)
Most players on a team with a point (12)
Most players on a team with a goal (6)
First penalty shot goal (Stepan)
Highest +/- for a player (+4, Stralman and Staal)

LET’S TAKE THIS OUTSIDE: Tonight’s contest will mark the fourth time in franchise history the Blueshirts compete in an outdoor game. On Sunday, New York became the first NHL team to win two regular season outdoor games, improving to 2-0-0 with a 7-3 victory over New Jersey. The Rangers defeated Philadelphia, 3-2, in the 2012 NHL Winter Classic on Jan. 2, 2012 in front of 46,967 fans at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia, PA. The Blueshirts tallied a pair of goals in the third period, including the game-winner from Brad Richards, to complete the comeback. On Sept. 27, 1991, the Rangers and Los Angeles Kings played in the first outdoor game between two NHL teams. The pre-season match-up, which was won by the Kings (5-2), took place in the parking lot of Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, NV, in front of approximately 14,000 fans.

OUTDOORSMEN: Prior to Sunday’s game against New Jersey, the Rangers had 13 players with previous experience playing outdoors, including 10 who skated with the Blueshirts in the 2012 NHL Winter Classic.
Dan Girardi, Marc Staal, Brad Richards, Derek Stepan, Brian Boyle, Ryan Callahan, Ryan McDonagh, Anton Stralman, Carl Hagelin, and Henrik Lundqvist skated with the Rangers in the 2012 NHL Winter Classic. Lundqvist stopped 34 of 36 shots, including a save on the only penalty shot attempt in an NHL Winter Classic game with 20 seconds remaining in regulation to preserve the victory. Richards notched the game-winning goal in the third period, with Callahan picking up an assist on the goal.
Daniel Carcillo (PHI) also skated in the 2010 NHL Winter Classic, while Benoit Pouliot (MTL) competed in the 2011 Heritage Classic
Chris Kreider skated in two Frozen Fenway outdoor games with Boston College (2010, 2012). He notched the game-winning goal in a 2-1 victory over Northeastern in Frozen Fenway 2012.
Carl Hagelin (Univ. of Michigan) faced-off against Derek Stepan and Ryan McDonagh (Univ. of Wisconsin) in the Culver’s Camp Randall Hockey Classic on Feb. 6, 2010 at Madison, WI. Hagelin recorded an assist, while Stepan tallied two assists to help lead the Badgers to a 3-2 victory.
Hagelin also tallied three points (two goals, one assist) in a 5-0 win over Michigan State in The Big Chill at the Big House on Dec. 11, 2010, at Ann Arbor, MI. The game set a world record at the time for largest attendance at a hockey game (104,173).

GRACIOUS HOSTS: The visiting team has won eight of 10 NHL regular season outdoor games (8-1-1), including five wins in the NHL Winter Classic (2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014), the 2003 Heritage Classic, and the first two games of the Stadium Series. New York enters the contest with a four-game road winning streak overall, and has won 14 of their last 18 games away from MSG.

RICK ROLLING: Rick Nash enters the contest with a five-game goal streak (seven goals), and has 11 goals in the last 11 contests. This is the first time in Nash’s career he has tallied 11 goals in an 11-game span, and he is one game shy of the longest goal streak in his career. He notched the opening goal in two straight games on his current streak – Jan. 19 (1:10 of the 1st) and Jan. 21 (1:02 of the 1st). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last Rangers player to score a goal within the game’s opening 70 seconds in consecutive games was Jan Hlavac in 1999-00. Nash was also credited with the game-winning goal in four straight games in which he scored a goal from Jan. 10 – Jan. 19, becoming the first Blueshirt to do so since Tom Poti in 2003-04.

COUNTDOWN TO 6K: The Rangers have played in 5,996 regular season games throughout the franchise’s 88 seasons, just four games shy of 6,000 all-time. The Blueshirts are scheduled to play their 6,000th game all-time on February 6 against the Edmonton Oilers at Madison Square Garden.

COACHING MILESTONE: Rangers Head Coach Alain Vigneault is one point shy of his 1,000th career point as a head coach, having posted a record of 450-311-35-64 (999 pts) in 860 career games coached. He would become the 26th head coach all-time (ninth active) to reach the mark.

Guess what day it is? Well, it’s not only Wednesday, but today is also the 5th Anniversary of Carp taking over this place from Sam. It wasn’t supposed to be for long time, “until they figure out what do with this place”. Go back to this date in 2009 and see how it all started. Well, I guess they figured it out. It’s been 5 years, and it’s getting better and better. Thanks, Carp, for having this place for us and spending so much time and energy. And thanks to everyone else for participating.

I suspect they may have to overpay Girardi, not Callahan. A good amount of teams would take him as their 1st pair D-man. Being R handed makes him even more attractive. He may get more than Callahan if he decides to test the market.

I have no confidence that the rangers can beat the islanders. The Islanders have a very good young team with forwards who can put the biscuit in the net. If the islanders decide to spend money and get a legit goaltender and a few good defensemen they will be a perennial playoff team.

Dustin Brown got 8 year with $5.875M AAV. That’s your benchmark. He wants 7 years, you load it upfront to the max allowed by CBA rules. Don’t see a problem there. Girardi may be more difficult to resign to what we may perceive as reasonable contract, IMO.

ilb2001, that’s the problem. The rangers seem to have difficulties with the Islanders forecheck. Islanders can score goals but yea, if the rangers can win the neutral zone battles and keep the puck in the islanders end they should be able to score some goals but it’s been a big “if” the past 2 meetings.

Brown was making $3.5M, but it’s irrelevant. Brown’s contract was 6 year long right after ELC. Callahan’s was 3 year long after 2 year bridge contract. Can’t compare these, what’s relevant is their respective value to each team.

SeeeDubbb – based on my experience on negotiating my own contracts and having seen (non-sports) agents at work.
If you hear a rumour that sounds high – its the agent leaking details, and the “buyer”, in this case Slats, will leak details about his other options to make the agent lower the demands.
This could go on for a couple of weeks, but obviously something needs to be in place before the trade deadline on March 5th otherwise the “buyer” loses almost all his leverage (unless Slats has naked pictures of said player with another players wife lol).

unless I misunderstood you, you did compare them. and of course what Brown was making before his extension is relevant. 3.5 to 5. 8 is a nice raise. what do you suppose 4. 8 gets you to in the open market.

I guess you did misunderstand me. You can’t compare the value of previous contract because it’s of different length and different circumstances. Let me put it this way: they are of similar age, they will have both been in the league for 8 years by the end of this season. Callahan will have made $19.15M by the end of his current contract, Brown- $21.4M

Cally’s agent will be using all the Dustin Brown, David Clarkson references he can squeeze into one sentence (and possibly mentioning Steven MacDonald, not to mention quoting fans outrage on twitter/blogs when the rumours were “leaked” etc..).

*Dustin Brown* simply cannot be compared to *anyone* in the league since it’s *well known* that he negotiated his *own* contract with the *team* in mind. No one has *any* idea what he would have been worth.

Callahan is getting $6+ and all the years on the open market. You know the problem with *Sather* is what it always is, he wants to low-ball *Callahan* in terms of *years*. He probably wants to sign him for $6.5M/4 Years or something like that.

SN- what do you think a R handed 1st pair D-man will cost you to replace Girardi? If he is even available elsewhere. Letting Callahan walk would be a mistake, injuries notwithstanding. He has more value to NY than anywhere else. He knows it.

My fear is the value (perceived or real, it’ll be in the form of cash) Callahan would have to rebuilding Buffalo or any talented team that needs tougher leadership like Edmonton. I don’t like losing Girardi, but I think the team that gets Girardi loses 1RD Girardi in a couple years no matter what. Callahan would be a killer. I’d be more upset if we lost him than Manny would be if we lost Stralman.

I understand that, but you can’t expect Callahan to just match up because Brown took what was likely the lowest amount he could possibly get. Brown’s projected value is Callahan’s comp, not Brown’s self-negotiated, team uber-friendly deal.

if you are using Brown’s contract as a benchmark, aren’t you in effect comparing the 2 players. there is no doubt in my mind that if Cally gets to the open market he gets the 42 mill he is looking for. the question for the Rangers is, do they want to be the ones to pay it.

I am torn about trading them. outside of Pitt and Boston, who in the east can’t the Rangers beat in the playoffs? if one of them happens to get knocked off early, the Rangers would only have to go through one of them. call me crazy, but I think this team can do damage in the playoffs.

I would move Giardi for the right price. just seems to me he is in a steady decline, played hard, too many minutes on the downside, but still has value around the league, perfect time to let him go. In a perfect world would be to get Cally for 5 or 6 yrs max. doubtful.

That’s where I am too, Bulldog. If you can get an upside young RD (Vatanen type) in exchange for offering a serious contender more certainty, I get it. Callahan just isn’t the type of guy you can replace in a trade for himself.

*Every* player is in a *Steady* decline. WE need to think about *WINNING* before they all get too old. If we can win a cup in the next *three* seasons than I will be *incredibly* happy and pleased as punch for *years to come*

If we approach this the other way, Sather trying to pressure Callahan by saying “look, I’m seriously serious about trading you out of NY tomorrow”, doesn’t he run the risk of basically what’s happening now where Callahan’s availability becomes a story and his future market value becomes even more obvious?

As a FAN, it blows me away that professional athletes who SEEM to care, are drafted, grow from inexperienced players to veterans in one (great) organization, can’t see the difference between $3, 5, 7 million on a $50 M deal, and stay where they belong an are comfortable. Sorry, I am old fashioned, but it’s piggish.

If they want to stay, a la Dustin Brown and Chris Neil, fine. If not fugg ’em. Trade their assen.

Not saying I want to see either go. I want them here. But not as pigs. I want them here because THEY want to be here. If they don’t, others do.

Matty, its a completely unrealistic expectation to think players should love the city as much as the fans who were (mostly) born there. These guys come from all over and, in some cases, probably really don’t like the NYC lifestyle. Look at the flipside, if somehow you were assigned to work in Utah out of college, would you suddenly feel some responsibility to stay there as long as they wanted you, even if they were offering less than your market value? The onus is on the Rangers to keep players, not on players to undercut their own earnings to stay.

Totally, Mister D. Plus, it’s not like hockey is a lifelong career. Why shouldn’t players go where the money is so to maximize their career earnings? I’m guessing that all of us want to feel appreciated as professionals, and part of being appreciated is to be paid fairly for what you are worth. It’s crazy to think a person should take a discount for what they are worth just to satisfy a boss or owner, who in many cases might not share the same loyalty back towards them.

We have to resign Girardi, our defense is pretty mint how it is now. I think trading Callahan now would be the smartest thing we could do, depending on the package we could get back. He is basically a third line winger (I consider Zucc line to be #2) with minimal production. He doesn’t play the powerplay anymore, he isn’t the first PK unit, and I feel like with AV’s style of play, he just is less valuable and not that important of a piece to keep around. He definitely has speed with is a definite asset but a team that plays a more Torts-like style could get more use out of him. If the right package is out there for him, say a high pick, prospect, I think we should take it. Or if we could package him with another to get back a legit top 6 wing (doubtful that would happen) that would be great too.

The problem with Callahan is, his style of play does not tend to age well and he is already showing that his durability is a big question mark.

We all know what his positives are, but do we really want to dish out 5+ mil for 6+ years to a guy that is our 3rd most productive RW and is always a significant injury risk.

I’m not saying we should trade him, but I think its wise to see what his value is on the market. We do have a weak farm system right now, so maybe re-stocking the farm and signing someone to replace him is the best bet.

exactly right oleosmirf. Very injury prone, third line winger. Love his heart/effort and I always have, but for 5/6 million, I’d rather look elsewhere. I’m also biased because I’m dying to see McD get the ‘C’ and think he deserves it.

I’ve decided: If Callahan is moved for anything less than an absolute King’s Ransom, I’m talking franchise retooling amount, then I will no longer support or follow the Rangers unless and until Sather and Dolan are gone.

I can’t do another Leetch trade. And while Cally is not Leetch by any stretch of the imagination, he is on his way to being so, and it’s just an intolerable slap in the face of the franchise that Sather repeatedly does.

I would not put Callahan in the same class as Leetch or say he is on his way to that class, or for that matter, anywhere close to that class. He has 9 goals in 37 games. He is a third line, 20-goal scorer, and a grinder. We can’t dish out 6 mill for that. I love the guy, I do, but the way this team is now, he just isn’t as valuable as he used to be. With that said, our team definitely becomes less physical than it already is, so that would obviously have to be addressed if he were to leave/be traded.

I agree, Callahan style of play makes him injury prone. Callahan is reaching 30. To sign him for a lot of years over 6 million dollars makes no sense at all. The problem though is I can’t see the rangers getting much for a rental. In Girardi’s case he is viewed as a #1 right handed defensemen and even though he would be a rental the rangers could get value back if they trade him to a team who feels they need that 1 piece to win the cup like the ducks. Defensemen are at a premium.

When I say replace Callahan, I mean replacing his production, not replacing everything he does. Surely there is going to be FA on the market who can give us 15-20g and 15-20a and only cost something like 2 for 6/7 instead of 6 for 30/35

Combine that with the young players you receive from trading him and that might be more beneficial than keeping him.

I don’t care about his production. I have an emotional attachment to him. He is the heart and soul of this team. This guy has literally broken his bones for this team on several occasions. He is the best captain the team has had since Messier the first time around, including Leetch’s underappreciated run as the captain.

Replacing Callahan’s points is ignoring that Callahan’s value is getting those points on top of everything else he contributes to a lineup. This isn’t some David Eckstein “he’s an inspiring winner who helps make losers win with him!” intangibles mess, its being a positive everywhere on ice in addition to the off ice stuff.

Agree Cally is heart/soul guy as well as Girardi in a slightly different way. Very easy to be sentimental about prior performance. this is about the future and it isn’t looking as rosy for either play in 2 or 3 seasons.

Girardi’s challenge is his lack of foot speed which doesn’t usually increase with age. By then the replacement is a D2R

Cally is very injury prone for all the right reasons, but still injury prone. Cannot replace his heart, but can replace his production much more cheaply.

There’s nothing saying Miller won’t resign, but Minnesota has to move some serious salary in order to get him under contract, especially since they are going to push hard for Vanek.

Also, anyone thinking the Rangers have a shot at signing Vanek is sorely mistaken. That guy is either signing in Minnesota or with the Islanders. Honestly, if it wasn’t for playing with Tavares, his signing in Minnesota was a fait accompli from before the season began.

I want the Mike Richards return. Schenn (who at the time was widely regarded as the #1 prospect in the league), Simmonds, and a pick. Richards deal was a second rounder. I’d do conditional first based on playoff performance, but no less than 2nd.

I think signing Girardi is imperative. Hoping for something in the range of 5-6 years for 25-30 million. He will be very hard to replace and his replacement will either be worse or more expensive or a combination of both.

I didn’t ask him, Sioux. It was definitely a Minnesota hat, though. A Minnesota *hockey* hat even, which made the whole outfit even stranger. I was going to take a picture but then I’d be that person who creepily takes photos of people on the subway.

Gravy, Timonen isn’t in the playoff picture? And Girardi is obviously in the playoff picture, so if the Rangers are open to moving him, I’m sure other playoff teams are open to moving their guys as well.

I like both cally and Girardi; honestly, i dont know what is best – woud obv depend on numbers discussed vs what they can get in a ptential trade – I just wish i ad more faith in the guy making these decisions…

Dustin Brown is a better player than Cally, yes? Much better? That Clarkson contract really screws u the comps

It’s been widely reported as one of the worst kept secrets in hockey that Vanek wants to play in Minnesota, where he played his college hockey. Also, they have his former linemate Jason Pominville.

Honestly, that would be a serious group of wingers: Parise, Vanek, and Pominville. Get one more RW and that’s the best top 4 wingers in the league. With Koivu, Coyle, and Granlund down the middle, that’s a pretty serious set of forwards.

Is Dustin Brown necessarily better than Callahan? He may have peaked higher but I don’t think the present day guy is tangibly better (or worse) than Callahan. And Brown is even a little older, which seems weird for some reason.

From what I gather the Vanek speculation is because 1) his wife is from Minnesota, 2) he played college hockey at Minnesota, 3) he’s friends with Pominville who plays for Minnesota. Doesn’t exactly seem as rock solid as people think, but who knows.

Rob, that’s more solid than it was for Suter and Suter ended up there all the same. In fact, it turns out that Suter was more definite than Parise was. Parise at least really considered the Devils’ offer, while Suter apprently was pretty much locked into the Wild no matter what.

Honestly, i havent seen enough of Brown, esp of late (no more nhl package) to make the comp with cally, but he puts up margnally better numbers and seems a bit more durable… I think his contract, as is good, comp at ne “team friendly” number..

And remember, brown was the pick right after Big Hugh in the ’03draft(not at all relavant, but had to get tht in)

I look at Dustin Brown’s contract at 5.875 over 8 years. I think Cally is worth more than Brown, but 5.875 is a good number for Callahan. Some people say his production can be replaced for less, but I totally disagree. Sure, you can replace 20 goals and 45 points fairly easily and probably more cheaply. his scoring is down this year but I think 22-23-45 is a totally reasonable expectation for him. But can you replace the goals and what he brings to the team in terms of the penalty kill, in terms of the physicality, in terms of the leadership, and in terms of what he means to the franchise and fan base for 5.875? Not a chance. You’re probably talking about at least two players, first of all, which means an extra roster spot to boot.

If he had Brown’s deal, I’d be very worried about years 6-8, but with the way the cap is expected to rise over the next few years (some have projected that it will be at 90 million by the time this CBA expires), 5.875 could be just a drop in the bucket by those later years.

Carp, it really was just a matter of being in the right place at the right time for Sam. Coming out of the lockout, he had the only blog run by a beat writer who would also occasionally interact with us boneheads (although we weren’t named as such until you arrived).

Remember how we all noted that the team desperately lacked toughness, that it lacked heart? Everyone pointed to losing Prust and Dubinsky as hurting more than we realized. Losing Callahan will be 10X worse.

That also goes the same on the PK, where losing some of our key PKers wasn’t as easy to replace as we thought. If Boyle also walks (very likely, a la crazy overpayment by MTL for Prust), it’s not going to be fixed as easily as people just assume it will.

Agreed across the board, Doodie. One plus is those tail end years can be spent playing his style on the 3rd line and PK. His player type ages poorly, but if he’s in the lineup, his style can play a lower role. A guy like Richards can’t. And Henrik … we just better pray on that one.

Jonas Hiller is going to be a free agent. The Ducks have some excellent young goalies behind him, and he’s had a good enough year himself. I think he’ll cost a lot less in terms of dollars than Miller will, too, considering he’s only signed at $4.5 million. Might be a better option for MIN to go after him. MIN also had Neiderreiter, another Swissman.

Mister D, it’s not that good replacements aren’t available, it’s that there are a lot of comparable players to choose from, so choosing the right one becomes somewhat difficult, and Sather seemingly always makes the wrong choice.

Speaking of getting Kane, sort of, if we trade Callahan and/or Girardi it better be with the long view. I don’t want some ceiling C+ who is ready to play in the newly renovated MSG the next day rather than a ceiling B+ who is a year away. That would piss me off more than anything else.

Kenneth, except Moore is also going to want a raise, and Moore is already on the team in his own role and therefore is not a Boyle replacement because there’s still the vacant roster spot for a 4th line penalty killer.

According to scouting reports, Klein is the same type of defensive player as Girardi. They are about the same age and Klein is signed to a reasonable contract for the next few years. Move on from Girardi. The Rangers should not overpay for D since they have the best goalie in hockey.

_xcept Moore is also going to want a raise, and Moore is already on the team in his own role and therefore is not a Boyle replacement because there’s still the vacant roster spot for a 4th line penalty killer._

Yes, Moore will seek a raise. However, he should only receive a modest raise due to his age. A 4L penalty killer can be obtained anywhere for a much more reasonable price.

Geekd, as far as Callahan goes, if he just signs elsewhere, I don’t mind that unless it was because it was over 500k or something crazy like that.

As for the being traded, I mean it. I’m 22 years in on this voyage of Rangers fandom. For the past decade, Dolan and Sather have done nothing but repeatedly spit in the face of the fan base. It’s been my undying loyalty to the franchise that has kept me around, but they’ve tempted me in the past. Trading away Callahan would be the final straw for me.

While I understand Ratelle and Park must’ve been hard back then, the team was still filled with lifers. When the Rangers unceremoniously dealt Leetch, and for absolute garbage in return, I really considered not coming back, especially with the lockout in the middle.

If Sather pulls that BS again with Callahan, I’m done.

I mean, I say now that I’m done, but I’d probably not be done. I wish I could quit you.

Sather will do what he always does………ride out the season and overpay both Girardi and Callahan to stay. I still think they are both Rangers long term. As far as soft….the Rangers already are the softest team in the NHL.

Team leaders in the room from 2011-12 season: Prust, Dubinsky, Callahan, Richards, Girardi, Staal. And that was a huge part of what made that team great. So are we really looking at next year having only Marc Staal from that group left next year? Cause Richards is getting bought out.

I agree with Carp they are both back here next year. As soon as the trade talks in the media start they are signed within the week.

Part of me wishes I was going tonight. Then I think of How many layers I wore on Sunday and was still cold at points, how it’s going to be colder tonight than it was on Sunday, how the game lasted four hours and took me a while to get home afterwards, how it will take me even longer to get home tonight, and how I would have to go straight from work, meaning I would have had to bring in a duffle bag full of clothes to change into, then have to lug home my suit from work tomorrow, and I’m just really happy that I managed to find someone to buy my tickets.

name this player.
he currently has 12 goals, and 13 assists.
he has has streaks of, no points in 5, no points in 8, and no points in 7.
he has scored 1 goal in 11 games, and 1 goal in 10 games at different times this year.
he is a former Ranger.
he beloved by many on this blog.
who am I?

I think they would accept it now that Hertl is done for the season. That’s the kind of move that puts a team over the top, adding a guy like Callahan without subtracting anything from the active roster. I’m just a little nervous about such a big knee injury.

Maybe the logical thing is for the rangers to sign both Girardi and Callahan and than in a few years while they both have years left on there contract you see what there worth and possibly trade them, not now. At least both will be worth more since they would both have years left on there contracts.

7 years at 6 million per. He’s basically looking for Dustin Brown’s contract, which is 8 at 5.875 per. Honestly, I’d be OK with what Callahan is asking for. Deal with years 5-7 when they come. Lundqvist and Nash aren’t getting any younger. Staal is gone after next season. Girardi is getting older. Honestly, this team has a really small window to compete in.

This group might be rudderless without Cally. Can’t make a 4th line 10 minute guy your leader (Dorsett). McD certainly leads by example, but seems not so rah-rah. I think Slats eventually signs all the pieces and tries to make a run for it. Could use a big, rugged, talented forward, though.

RANGERS clobbered The Devils , ( like I predicted ) I said we would take it to ’em and we did. Our team in Tort’s terms …We now have found our identity . With our new coachs system , Im liking this better. I do . Torts ran our players down into the ground and with AV running the show , we pass better , shoot more , we back each other up more. This team loves themselves. I wanna win as much as the next person but if we lose games Im still gonna have a good xmas . If our team keeps playing like this then what more can I ask for? I enjoy watching us play because the hockey is good. I used to watch cuz I was biter twards others saying the Rangers are bad , they suck , bla bla bla. I watched for pride of my team . Now I watch for the same reason but I have this team playing like a team and its really fun to watch good hockey let alone it being our team. We wont settle for just good hockey for too long . Whispers of Lord Stanley are going to surface but for lets just enjoy the rideeee.

GO RAAAAAAANGERS Lets kill those bums!!! Azzlanders are gonna pay for the last game!!!!!